The Rundown

Health-Care Speech Set, Details to Come

By Ben Pershing
What was only theoretical yesterday morning is reality today, as President Obama now has firm plans to address a joint session of Congress on health care next Wednesday night. But while the schedule may now be clear, the substance isn't yet.

Is it possible that the centerpiece of Obama's "new strategy" is simply selling the public -- and, more importantly, the press -- on the idea that there is a new strategy? The New York Times reports that administration aides said Obama "would be more specific than he has been to date about what he wants included in the plan" but is "unlikely to unveil a detailed legislative plan of his own." David Axelrod, the public face of this strategy shift, said listeners to Obama's speech would get "a clear sense of what he proposes and what health care reform is not." Does that mean much of the address will again involve knocking down "myths" about death panels and the like? Beyond the public insurance option, will Obama rule anything else in or out next week?

It's not surprising that the White House is unwilling to telegraph exactly what Obama is going to say a week before the address. It's likely that Obama himself doesn't know yet what he's going to say; reportedly, he only just decided Tuesday to speak to Congress instead of holding a prime-time press conference or an Oval Office address. But the administration does risk setting itself up for failure, raising expectations for a fresh-sounding speech laden with specifics that could end up being dismissed by reporters -- who have been covering health care nonstop for months -- as nothing new or special.
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Comments

I think everyone sees and knows that we need health care reform and reform in many other issues. However, more important is reforming with less government involvement. Less government control. This administration, wants more government control; more government, more spending, more control. They want to call the shots on who gets what, when and where. The more control they have the more they can pad their pockets and protect their own. Their not for the people, they are for themselves. If they were for the people they would come up with a regulated health care plan that put the control in the people's hands. But they won't because their deep rooted objective is socialism, more government, more control, more power. They want to change the face of our democracy from them being the public servants to the public being their servants.

Posted by: hanocul6 | September 3, 2009 2:15 PM

It's impossible to have an intelligent conversation with right wing funny guys who choose to believe fantasy over facts. Wouldn't it be nice if a MICROWAVE/LASER 'DIRECTED ENERGY WEAPON' selectively removed all of them? Except for a few we could keep in a zoo? :)

Health care reform doesn't help untold thousands of unjustly targeted Americans recover from the devastating physiological effects of being silently irradiated by microwave and laser directed energy weapons -- the weaponization of the electromagnetic spectrum, a silent "final solution" that may have the nation's political leadership in its ideological cross-hairs.

This technology is capable of altering moods, emotions, inducing fatigue, weakness, exhaustion, confusion, life-altering injury, disease and a slow-kill death. And key elements of the Obama administration, chief among them the defense/security/intel establishment, are proliferating these technologies by various modalities -- from hand-held weaponry to satellite and terrestrial cell tower based delivery systems.

By its naivete, its rubber-stamp approval of the deployment of these destructive technologies, the Obama administration is presiding over the destruction of democracy, the rule of law, and personal liberty.

Until the Obama administration realizes that a covert federal-local multi-agency coordinated action "program" is executing a high-tech "final solution" on unjustly targeted Americans -- right under POTUS' nose -- health care reform amounts to little more than a cruel false hope.

These "targets" also are subject to financial sabotage on the federal and local levels that decimates their livelihoods and financial resources along with their lives.

The bureaucratic saboteurs and Dr. Strangeloves must be removed from power, immediately, before this silent genocide claims more victims.

Those happy with their insurance do not use it to the extent that the company pays out more than it takes in from each individual. If the company pays out more than it takes in the individual, the individual gets dropped, suddenly has an existing condition, is not able to be insured by private companies and winds up on the public dole. How is this practice of the insurance company keeping the individuals that are profitable and dropping to the public those that aren't? Why allow this to go un challenged by a plan that insures all? A public plan is needed. The insurance companies do not dispense one aspirin, reward those in the company that keep costs down (by denying care and medicine) and pay the CEO's 7.5 million a year average. Doctors average pay is 150,000 a year average. I say have an at cost Public Plan that does not profit from my premium. My premium goes to the Doctors that do the work and those that handle the paperwork. We need a public plan.

Posted by: mjpierno | September 3, 2009 11:07 AM

I know obama gave all you liberal left-wing puppets a supply of vaseline...but you might also get some obama sauve for the butt-hutt that is fixing to come when reality sets in on obama is nothing but a Failure.

Posted by: JWx2 | September 3, 2009 10:46 AM

Obama will say anything to just get the beast rolling. His program will be riddled with triggers of all sorts, i.e. should private insurance not meet certain random arbitrary goals, the government takes over your health insurance. He's talking about upsetting the health insurance apple cart for 96% of us so that the other 4% can get theirs for free. Don't buy it folks. Anybody who needs emergency health care can walk into an emergency room and get treated, that's the law. The system might need some minor tweaks, but not a takeover.

Posted by: flintston | September 3, 2009 9:39 AM

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